This invention relates to unrolling document scrolls.
Prior to the advent of paper, documents were hand written on parchment and long documents were made into the form of a scroll. To this day, sacred Hebrew texts are still hand written on parchment scrolls and, during public readings in synagogue, it is from such scrolls that the texts are read. Such document scrolls are of two kinds: those containing short books of the bible such as the book of Esther or the book of Ruth and those which contain the whole of the five books of Moses, known as xe2x80x9cTorahxe2x80x9d. In the case of short books of the bible, the parchment scroll is bound at its right hand edge to a roller typically having at its upper and lower ends circular discs or end-plates for confining therebetween the rolled up scroll. Protruding from these end-plates as an extension of the roller are handles, not infrequently decorated, which serve the purpose of rolling the parchment on to the roller or of unrolling it, as required.
In the case of the Torah scroll, the complete parchment scroll is bound at opposite left and right edges to respective rollers which, again, are provided with upper and lower end-plates and handles. In this case, the lower handles serve to lift the Torah scroll and, during use when a portion read in synagogue, to roll the parchment from one roller to the other, whereby the scroll can be rolled forwards and backwards, as required.
During such use, the four end-plates of the two rollers rest tangentially on the reading desk which is normally covered with a decorative cloth, not infrequently made from velvet. Parchment is, of course, much heavier than paper and a complete Torah scroll can weigh upwards of 15 or 20 Kg. The weight that thus acts on the discs can leave unsightly track marks in the cloth covering the reading desk, particularly when it is made of velvet or other easily impressionable material.
Furthermore, when it is desired, during reading, to advance the scroll from one column of text to another, this is done by the reader rotating the lower handles in the required direction and this operation, too, can be strenuous particularly for the very young or the very old. It should be borne in mind that Jewish boys aged 13 may, and frequently do, read from the Torah scroll in synagogue and the weight of the Torah scroll acting on the rollers often requires not insignificant effort to roll the scroll. Indeed, when it is required to roll the scroll either forwards or backwards through many chapters of holy writ, the rolling is often done by two adults acting in conjunction who hold the upper and lower handles on opposite sides of the scroll, respectively. Even then, not insignificant effort is required and the process of rolling a Torah scroll through many columns of text can be strenuous.
Notwithstanding the fact that Torah scrolls are thousands of years old, the above-described techniques for rolling the scroll forwards and backwards have remained largely constant, there being minor cultural distinctions between Torah scrolls used by oriental and German Jews, respectively, although the principles are the same in both cases.
It would clearly be desirable to provide an apparatus and method which would allow document scrolls of the kind described to be more easily scrolled, without requiring significant effort on the part of the reader and allowing the weight of the scroll to be more evenly distributed on the reading surface so as not to create unsightly impressions in the surface of the cloth covering the reading desk.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,942,754 discloses an arrangement for axially displacing rolls in rolling mill stands. The rolls of the rolling mill stands are supported in roll supports or chocks which are adjustably and slidably guided in the roll housings of the stand. The rolls are displaceable by means of hydraulic piston-cylinder units which are supported relative to the roll housing and are connected to the supports of the bearings of the roll. The bearings of the rolls are axially slidable within the roll supports and a sliding guide is arranged on the roll support for a sliding carriage, which supports a coupling device for a roll neck. The hydraulic piston-cylinder units are articulated to the sliding carriage. The coupling device includes drive members which are slidable in radial guides and can be placed in an annular groove of the roll neck. The coupling device is supported by the neck bushing of the deep-groove-type radial roller bearing which is immovably arranged in the sliding carriage. The drive members include skirt-type pistons which are guided in radially extending guide bores within the neck bushing. The pistons are biased by means of a spring in the direction toward the roll neck and are biased toward the opposite direction by means of a pressure medium.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,157,626 discloses a document protecting device for holding a flexible document comprising a first and a second member each having a transparent substantially planar central region interposed between end regions. Each of the end regions includes a protrusion extending outwardly relative to the planar central region. The first member is mounted relative to the second member with the protrusions defining end containers for receiving rolled portions of the flexible document with the planar central regions protecting an intermediate portion of the flexible document. The first and second members may be slidably mounted relative to one another for exposing a portion of the flexible document for making notations thereon. The first and second members may be substantially identical to one another with each of the members having a groove on one end thereof and a slide on the other end thereof. The first and second members are slidably secured to one another with the slides in the first and second members cooperating with the groove in the other of the first and second members.
Neither of these patents is directed to the winding of a document scroll on or off a roller, so as to allow a reader to advance forwards or backwards through the scroll.
This object is realized in accordance with a first aspect of the invention by an apparatus for facilitating scrolling of a scrollable document on and off at least one roller fixed to a respective edge of the document, the apparatus comprising:
a pair of tracks each for supporting a respective end of each roller, and
for each roller; a corresponding pair of sliders at least one pair of which is adapted for sliding movement along a respective one of the tracks and each being adapted for rotatably supporting a corresponding end of the roller.
According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a method for facilitating scrolling of a scrollable document having at least one edge fixed to a corresponding roller, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) providing a pair of tracks each for supporting a respective end of the or each roller,
(b) providing for each roller a pair of sliders at least one pair of which is adapted for sliding movement along a respective one of the tracks and each being adapted for rotatably supporting a corresponding opposing end of the respective roller,
(c) disposing the sliders in respective ones of the tracks, and
(d) rotatably mounting the opposing ends of the respective roller in said sliders.